


A Different Turn Of Events

by Zerolite



Category: OFF (Game), OFF (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Friendships, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Not my real name ofc, Sorry Not Sorry, Thank my reading something for how the Batter acts around her
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-01 18:59:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16289999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerolite/pseuds/Zerolite
Summary: a message pops up. 'Full dive, and do more than you could before to help him succeed in his mission.'I blink, confused by what it meant, but as I saw a spectre rushing at the Batter, I made my decision......He blinked, but decided to ask a more important question. “Are you Deirdre?”She blinked as if mildly startled to hear him say her name before smiling slightly and nodding. “Yes, that is me, I'm the Player who has been guiding you.”In which, a young girl makes the decision to enter the world of OFF while playing a 3D/2D remake, not knowing that the game, which told her at the start to use it, never required her sensory VR headset to begin with.





	1. Diving in

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't help myself, once I fell into this fandom this story was born and I'm not looking back! X3
> 
> This "_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_" Means a POV change, just so you know!

“Alright. Let's go.” I say as I move The Batter out of the elevator, making him look around as my nervegear(it had a different name but I honestly couldn't be bothered to remember it as it was just like a nervegear from that anime) stayed on my head without jolting as I moved my head. I asked out loud. “Do you see anything I don't Batter?”

“No, just purple.” He replies, his voice neutral as it always was as I made him walk carefully into the postal services floor.

It always astounded me how in dept this game was, none of the characters lines seemed scripted, it was like actual people were talking and responding to me, it was absolutely crazy and I wondered how they were able to do that when making this game, which if my memories were correct was an RPG maker game, into a full-on 3D/2D mix game, it looked so lifelike it made me forget it was a game at times.

It was a little weird how it required me to be wearing my nervegear though, I don't recall anywhere online people mentioning it, maybe it was one of those unspoken things? Well, it didn't require me to fully use it, only the VR screen that was a carryover from those older vr headsets, though I could full dive into it if I wished.

My mind doesn't linger on those topics however, I guide my Batter through the room, remarking sarcastically. “Wow, the purple hues totally do not blend in with each other to make it hard to see where we're walking.”

An amused scoff greets my ear as I see the Batter's hands come up to brace against the edge of a table, a table I hadn't seen and nearly made him walk into. A low growl escapes me, hearing him let out a slight chuckle as I ponder a thought that's been bugging me for a while.

According to others, he usually wasn't doing things like scoffing or chuckling in amusement, yet with me he was? The thought of him being influenced by talking with me briefly crosses my mind, but it dances away from me before I could deeply ponder it.

My fingers dance away on my keyboard as we move through the room, thankfully once my eyes adjusted we got around with no problem. We continued despite all the spectres showing up and promptly getting socked in the face by my Batter's bat and hit by the add-on Alpha before disappearing as they were 'purified'.

It didn't take us long to acend several floors, which made me grumble about how the elevator didn't show up on these floors or even show up at all, and end up on what I hoped was the last floor before we could continue.

However, the Elsen behind the counter told us we needed a number password, making me facepalm only for my hand to meet my nervegear. With grumbles from both of us, I made the batter walk back through each floor, finding pieces of paper with what I assumed were the numbers to the password.

We march right back up there, smacking and purifying any spectres that dare came close to us when we were this aggravated, and give the Elsen the code.

“The... The code, it... it is exactly correct... ... Ho-...How...?” I let out a breath of relief, only for my blood to chill upon the next words I heard. “You... You must not pass! I don't want to die!”

“BATTER BACK UP!” I shout, making him scramble and backpedal as the Elsen's head exploded in a burst of black ooze, the vile liquid spattering everywhere and lunged over the counter at him and Alpha.

“Damnit, he turned into a burnt!” I shouted as the Batter readied his bat to swing, Alpha vibrating in the air for a second as the two readied for the upcoming battle while I spoke a quick warning. “Keep an eye out for any specters that may sneak up on us! I have no doubt they'll hear the commotion and come running!”

“Got it!” The Batter replied before rushing forward and swinging his bat, me seeing through his eyes despite the battle menu on the lower half of the view giving me a good view of the ooze that seeped out of the former elsen when his bat connected with a twack, sending the lquid flying and spattering on the bat.

It made my stomach lurch in disgust, and I hoped this would be over soon. The Batter ducked backward to avoid the swing the burnt sent his way, Alpha using Saturated Chain on the burnt upon my command as the two worked together to bring this enemy down.

Everything was going well, the burnt was well on it's way to it's demise, when I heard something from behind that the Batter didn't. Slamming my hand down on a key to break me from looking through his eyes, I whip my head around to see several spectres rushing this way.

“SPECTRES INCOMING!” I attempt to warn the Batter and Alpha, but my warning comes too late for the Batter, a spectre full on slams into him, making him exclaim in surprise and go flying, his bat being knocked far out of his reach as his body skids on the ground. His HP bar is far from low, but I go into panic mode as he's got a stunned status aliment by his name.

“Crap, crap, crap!” I'm freaking out and tell Alpha to act without my command on auto as I try to see if I can get rid of this ailment, but for all my keyboard mashing naught come up and he's still on the ground, groaning as he attempts to get up. All the while some spectres are closing in on him.

Then a message pops up. ' _Full dive, and do more than you could before to help him succeed in his mission._ '

I blink, confused by what it meant, but as I saw a spectre rushing at the Batter, I made my decision. Quickly commanding Alpha to rush over and take the hit for him to buy me time, I feel around the helmet, finding the switch for full diving, and I flick it on.

I lean back in my chair, saying as I feel myself seemingly slipping from my real body, like my soul was being pulled out of my body as I say. “Falling into dive begin!”

With that, my world went dark before violet hues met my eyes as well as scattered white and black, with a few blinks, my vision clears to see myself flying through the air, soon coming between the spectre and the Batter?

I don't have much time to contemplate, as the spectre hits me instead of my Batter and sends me flying.

 

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

 

The Batter looked up to see a flickering Alpha shield him from a spectre's attack, and he was stunned to see the white ring go flying in such a....organic way, hitting the ground and skidding on it's side like he did unlike in previous battles where it simply spun back in the air.

He soon got his answer as he got up and made a break for his bat, which was near Alpha who began to flickering rapidly, soon, between it's normal form and... a female humanoid form?

He snatched up his bat as Alpha stopped flickering, and the girl took the ring's place before the ring appeared next to her. She was certainly different than anything in this word. Two feathers sticking out of silvery-white hair that only reached her chin with two long strands at either side of her face with star clips, she wore a mostly white jacket with black accents, black jeans neatly tucked into calf-high white boots with black soles and heels, and a simple white tank top, and when her eyes opened they were a dusty grey-blue.

She sprun to her feet as soon as she gained her bearings, Alpha soon following her after briefly wobbling. She was quick to rush past the Batter and full on kick a spectre in the face, preventing it from hitting him while he had been running for his bat.

“Batter, I'll explain later but I'd suggest using one of your competence skills to take some of these dudes down quicker!” Her voice rang out as she hopped on one foot briefly, clearly that kick really hurt her to do, and with a jolt, he realized she was The Player, his Puppeteer, as her voice was the exact same. He'd have to ask to make sure but now was not the time. “Me and Alpha will take care of the burnt!”

He nodded and noticed the strings wrapped around his body that had been originally pointing and pulling up, were now pointing toward her, fading into nothing as they got closer to her, and they were considerably less tight than before.

It all but confirmed it as he, not entirely of his own accord considering her command, went after the spectres, she was his Player indeed, and she was indeed the one pulling the strings, quite literally in this case.

He heard her shout out commands to Alpha as he was quick to swing his bat at the enemies, sending a few flying with the force he was putting behind his swings. It wasn't just his mission driving his swings, but the newfound need to protect his Player from the spectres now.

He didn't know or think she was as durable as him, and he wasn't going to take any chances considering he didn't know what would happen if something happened to her.

He then heard her yelp several times in succession and was quick to end the spectres and spin around to see her backing away from the now dead burnt, nearly hopping as she skittered back from the ooze that spilled from the corpse.

“Oh god that's gross.” She groaned, putting the back of her hand to her mouth as the Batter hurried over to her, him moving from the corner of her eye made her turn to stare at him in confusion as he got to her side and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Batter-?”

“They didn't hurt you did they?” His voice was almost a low growl, tinged with protectiveness and concern she hadn't heard before.

“Nope! I'm perfectly fine.” Completely unphased by his almost growl, she responded with a slight smile. It was then he noticed she was fairly tall, her eyes reaching his shoulders at least, she would easily tower over any Elsen.

Her eyes drifted to the side as if reading something and noted. “Alpha took a beating, we're going to want to heal him.”

He blinked, but decided to ask a more important question instead of why her eyes looked like she was reading something. “Are you Deirdre?”

She blinked as if mildly startled to hear him say her name before smiling slightly and nodding. “Yes, that is me, I'm the Player who has been guiding you.” She then grinned sheepishly. “Sorry for just suddenly showing up in the middle of a fight, I saw you go down and I just panicked, so I went in here without thinking.”

That reminded him that she possibly DID get hit, considering for several moments she took the place of Alpha right after the Add-on shielded him, causing him to narrow his eyes at her.

“Are you sure you didn't get hurt? You did briefly take the place of Alpha after he shielded me.” He asked, watching her blink and reach for her left side with an arm.

She lightly pushed on her side, causing her to wince ever so slightly and mumble. “Okaaay, seems some of the hit was shared between us, considering I was seeing through the ring's perspective when I first hopped in I'm not entirely surprised.”

The Batter let go of her shoulders and rifled through his pockets, finding the Luck tickets with ease and pulling them out. She raised her hands up as he turned back to her with a ticket in hand, stepping back slightly as she chuckled nervously.

“Help Alpha first, I can wait a minute or two, I'm not badly hurt.” She nervously laughed, as if she was unused to this and smiled nervously.

He frowned, but did as she suggested, turning to the Add-on that was fidgeting in the air. He noted that Deirdre was leaning close as he prepared to use a ticket on Alpha, her eyes trained on his hands.

“You must be wondering how to use this.” His statement made her jolt before she chuckled nervously as she scratched behind one of her ears.

“Um, yeah.” She averted her eyes briefly as she felt her face turn the slightest tinge of pink. “It's, well, a ticket, how does it heal someone?”

“Watch me.” He instructed her as he found himself smiling, borderline grinning. He brought the easy tear part of the ticket close to an easy to see bruise on Alpha's pure white ring before tearing it, green sparks flying from it to land on the white ring. After a moment, the bruise and the rest of the injuries Alpha had disappeared.

The Batter turned to see her eyes wide with childish wonder, and he had to restrain a chuckle from escaping. He then pulled out another luck ticket and approached her, making her tilt her head in confusion.

“We need to take care of that bruise you sustained.” He said, clarifying his intention and she blinked in surprise.

“Right, but it's fine.” She waved her hands in the air out of habit in an attempt to dissuade him.

“Yes, but you are still hurt, we need to get that sorted out.” He pressed, stepping forward as she shifted slightly, brows creasing.

“It's not serious, I'll live and it'll go away.” The wince she let slip when her elbow bumped her side while moving her arm said otherwise.

“I insist.”

She folded her arms, giving an expression that she certainly wasn't used to this kind of thing. “I'm fine, really I am. I'm not a delicate flower who gets ripped at the slightest breeze, you... Don't need to worry about me.” She seemed unsure of what else she could say, making an uncomfortable expression as if she was used to not receiving help and just managing on her own.

“Just.... let me do this, okay?” He sighed, exasperated as he stepped closer, nearly standing toe to toe with her.

She made a face before sighing, slipping her jacket off her left arm and lifting her tank top's side, the Batter being shocked at what was underneath. She really was lying when she said she was fine, the bruise nearly covered her entire side, and was a purplish yellow with splotches of black.

“Just because I'm your Player doesn't mean you need to coddle me.” She mumbled as he brought the ticket close to her side, making an uncomfortable expression.

“I fail to see how I'm coddling you when you have a bruise that looks like a crate rammed into you.” He said flatly, making her scoff in amusement before he tore the ticket, the sparks landing on the bruise.

The bruise healed somewhat, but didn't fully go away, making the Batter furrow his brows as he just stared at it. She stepped back, touching her side and testing to see if the bruise was still there, before letting her tank top fall back into place as she slipped her jacket on while saying. “Well, I'm not exactly from here, so I can't say I'm surprised.”

“I don't understand.” At his words, she smiled gently at him.

“It's alright, it's just a bruise and it did heal a bit at least.” She then took a closer look at him, frowning as she noticed his injuries. “Oh goodness, you should have attended to your own injuries before my own Batter!”

He blinked as she snatched the last Luck Ticket from his hand and was quick to rip it close to his chest where a spectre slashed him, his injuries disappearing soon after the sparks hit his chest.

She hardly gave him time to blink as she lightly and carefully socked him in the chest, now grinning playfully. “Keep an eye out for yourself as best you can while fighting, please? Elsewise I may sock you in the chest again.”

He raised an eyebrow at her as he found himself grinning before plopping a hand on her head, making her let out a noise as she looked up at him, an eye closed as it was close to his hand.

“I see you're still the same even after coming here to my aid. Good.” He chuckled, watching as she blinked before he ruffled her hair, seeing her let out a squawk as she batted at his hand with her own. He was strangely happy she didn't change even when meeting him in person.

He removed his hand and she huffed, trying to fix her hair by combing her hands through it to get it to settle correctly again, something he remembered she mentioned bugged her cause it hurt the roots when her hair wasn't settled correctly.

He had a feeling things would be getting interesting now that she was here, directly helping him with his purification. While she had a feeling things were going to be very different than what she heard about online.


	2. Misperceptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Deirdre? Deirdre! Where is she.... There you are! ..... You're using that nervegear again? ... You must be full diving if you can't hear me. C'mon, wake up, it's time for bed! Deirdre! Deirdre Rose!"_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _"Huh, she usually gets out of it when I do that. C'mon Deirdre, it's time for-"_
> 
> _"...What on earth is going on with her laptop? Sh... 'She's ours now'? What the hell, Deirdre, c'mon this isn't funny!"_
> 
> _"....Deirdre...?"_

With Deirdre and Alpha by his side, the Batter entered the elevator that was previously inaccessible, pressing the singular button which took them up. How high up, he didn't know, only that it took some time for the elevator to stop.

The first they noticed was a healing block which Deirdre wasted no time in walking over to it, though she mostly stood there, very much unsure of what to do as she fiddled with her hands.

He walked over and explained, “You just touch it and it heals you as well as restore your energy.” before putting his hand on it, the block glowing briefly before he pulled his hand away, Alpha soon followed his lead in touching it.

After Alpha backed off, she tilted her head and placed her hand on it, nearly jumping as a rush of glowing orbs swirled around her briefly as the block glowed while she felt her bruise disappear and her energy return.

“Holy snipe.” She mumbled as she pulled her hand back, blinking in wonder before shaking it off and returning to The Batter's side. The two with the Add-on at their side approached the other door that lay before them before the Batter pushed it open and they walked in.

Almost immediately as soon as they entered the room, the Batter flung an arm back, roughly shoving Deirdre behind him, causing her to stumble into his backside, but his rigid posture helped her stablize her footing as she gripped his shirt in her hands from the stumble and peaked around him.

“Wow, he's more ugly in person.” She whispered as she saw it was Dedan facing against several spectres, no wonder the Batter reacted the way he did.

The Batter chuckled quietly, and she could hear how tense he was, it didn't help the guardian was a few feet taller than the two of them.

Quietly she shifted to where she was completely behind the Batter as Dedan roared. “Miserable morons! Piss off!” He was quick to cut down one of the spectres, and make quick work of the rest, soon the spectres were nothing more than spatters of blood on the ground, then as he took a moment to catch his breath, he noticed his guest.

Deirdre quickly shrunk back behind the Batter as Dedan turned and shouted. “YOU!”

' _It me, Mario~!_ ' Ran through her head, making her restrain her chuckles which died in her throat as Dedan continued to shout. “It's you, you're the source of all my troubles! The ectoplasmic lord who's been eyeing my beloved zone! What do you want? Why've you decided to be a pain in the ass?”

“I've dedicated my whole life to this place! You've got no right to ruin it with your damn ghosts!” She felt herself gripping the Batter's tunic in her hand tightly, hiding her face in his back as Dedan continued to shout at the Batter, she never liked hearing people shout and was terrified of being yelled at for something she didn't do and the tone he was using wasn't helping her already frayed nerves even if she knew his words were not meant for her. “SHOVE OFF!!”

This was why, when she first heard of Dedan online, she decided she absolutely did not like him, he was an asshole and yelled way too much.

She felt the Batter step forward an inch, a shift of her head revealing that his fists were clenched tightly, the hand holding his bat shaking ever so much as he said, his words sharp. “You're mistaken. I'm **not** a phantom. I'm a purifier. I've come to purge the world of these ectoplasmic beings.” He sounded both offended and mildly pissed, though she wasn't sure why for the latter one.

“How dare you respond?” She had to restrain flinching when she heard Dedan slam his fist onto the desk in front of him as he growled. “And how dare you imagine that I'd just put up with this shit... Listen good. I'll make this simple. Get outta here and take your goddamn specters with you, or I'm gonna kill you. I hope that's clear enough for ya. If I see you again... You're dead.”

A weird whooshing sound soon rang out after Dedan finished speaking, signaling he teleported as the Batter relaxed his posture, turning to his Player with concern.

“Are you okay?” He asked, he had felt her hide her face in his back and how tightly she gripped his tunic in her hands, so he was mildly concerned.

With an inhale she let go of his tunic and smiled awkwardly up at him as he fully turned to her, apologetic for her reaction. “Y-Yeah. Sorry about that. Shouting with that tone he was using makes me.... Nervous...” She averted her eyes, knowing she was probably making a big deal out of nothing. “Sorry.”

Was she afraid of Dedan? No. Was she intimidated by him? Heck no, she hated him. Was she terrified of people yelling and blaming her for something she didn't do? Yes.

She nearly jumped when he placed his hands on her shoulders, her being lost in her thoughts making her miss his putting it up against a wall so he could do so, making her look up at him to see him giving her an assuring, almost comforting look.

“It's alright, we'll soon no longer have to listen to him after we purify this zone.” He assured her, despite being completely unsure of what exactly to say himself. “I will not let him harm you if he tries to hurt you, I swear.”

She blinked before managing a small smile, saying. “Thank you.” She then reached up and brushed some of her hair behind an ear as he let go of her shoulders, noting. “I think we should be able to go to Alma now.”

“I swear if we have to go through the postal service floors again..” He groaned as he grabbed his bat, hearing her lightly giggle as he turned back to her.

“I think the elevator will take us to the ground floor, don't worry.” She giggled, dusty blue eyes dancing in amusement. “Trust me, I would have killed something if we had to go through that again.”

This was weird. Very weird. She was well aware of how monotone and ambiguous the Batter was in terms of personality and morality, that was one thing several fans warned her of and from what she saw from the general fandom when she decided to begin playing.

But, this was completely off the rails, he was being far from monotone, and though she didn't really mind, what on earth was going on? She decided she'd find out as she followed the Batter back to the elevator. She'd exit the game and look up to see if anything online could tell her what was going on.

“Hey, does the block have any other function that healing?” She asked casually as she could while stopping by the block.

“Yeah? It can do a function called saving.” He replied, stopping by the elevator, looking back at her. “It's like it can reset you back to a certain point you saved in case you die or something of the sort, though only you and I can see and use them. Everyone else has to use a Joker to revive someone dead.”

“Got it.” She nodded and placed her hand on it, the rush of orbs surrounding her briefly as a save menu popped up, she blinked as she selected save game, saving on a random block before backing out of that menu, heading over to....

Where was exit game? A rush of panic quickened her heartbeat, she cycled through the few menu options available but there was only an empty space where exit game was. No, nononono, this couldn't be happening. She was fighting the urge to panic, maybe this block didn't have the function to exit the game.

She hoped that was the case, cause she didn't know what to do or how she'd react if she couldn't go home. She wasn't pulled into the world of OFF like she saw some stories she read do with the Player, she just dived into it with her VR headset-

 _Which was just like if she got pulled into it_ she realized as she thought about it more, right here right now she could have very well been in the world of OFF. She had to calm down, she'd be noticeably panicked if she kept this up and she didn't want to worry the Batter.

Zackarie! She could ask him if nothing else, he broke the fourth wall enough as it was, maybe he might know what save block could let her exit. Or if she'd have to wait until she completed-

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see the Batter looking at her in concern.

“Are you alright? You've been spaced out for several minutes.” He asked, looking over her features in an attempt to see if anything was wrong.

“Ah, erm... Yes.” She was panicking over nothing, the eighteen-year-old told herself, she might as well think she's living in the world of OFF for a while without stressing on how to get home. Besides, the previous dive VR games she played often logged her out after a certain amount of time, a timer set in place by her mother so she wasn't always in a game where she couldn't hear her mom. Her nervegear would log her out in due time. “Just getting lost in my thoughts is all.”

“You've got a bad habit of doing that.” He chuckled as the two made their way to the elevator. “You did that a lot before you jumped in here while running about the postal services.”

She lightly batted at his arm, a slight smirk upon her features as they walked into the elevator with Alpha at their sides. “Yeah yeah, I know I got a problem.”

Yeah, she decided she wasn't going to concern herself with getting home just yet, she had just gotten here and she didn't know if the trip or exit game button was a one-way trip.

Though she was wondering why she wasn't simply referring to exiting the game as that instead of a one-way trip, she had exited and gone back into the game before full diving after all.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was raining she noticed as she and the Batter began to exit the building, lifting up a hand to catch it in her palm. It didn't seem like it was plastic, though it certainly looked and felt weird when it collected in her palm. Like it was extremely polluted yet kinda see-through and like she was wearing gloves when she wasn't, both in feel and how it collected in her palm.

A cool wind brushed by her, tossing some of her silvery-white hair into her vision and she absentmindedly brushed it back behind her ear. This truly felt like she was living in this world, the way the wind tugged her clothes, how her hair was tossed by it-

Wait a moment, since when was her hair silvery-white? Snatching one of the long strands at the side of her face, she peered at her hair, seeing it was indeed a silvery-white color.

“Something wrong?” The Batter asked, seeing her bemused expression and not knowing what was wrong.

“Huh? No, it's nothing really.” She frowned, letting go of her hair and crossing her arms with a perturbed look on her face. “My hair's just a little different here. My hair back home is a brown color, so it's a little strange to see it's silver white here, but I'll get used to it.”

The Batter blinked, he never thought his Player looked different than how she looked in her homeworld, and so he offered. “Well, your eyes are a dusty blue, that's the same right?”

She blinked before smiling up at him, relief shown in her eyes. “Yeah, that's the same.” Her shoulders sagged in relief before she walked out into the rain, spinning on her heel briefly to grin back at the Batter.

“Coming?” She giggled before spinning away carefreely in the rain, purposely splashing in the puddles of 'water' as she went about playing in the rain while continuing on their way.

He blinked before quickly following her with Alpha at his heels, keeping pace with her as she spun and danced.

“I've always wanted to dance in the rain,” She began as she skipped along the puddles, sometimes spinning to face the Batter with a serene smile on her face as the rain slipped off her form with ease. “But back home I always ran the risk of either getting sick or some sicko trying to kidnap me, so I've never had a chance to mess around like this.” She then giggled sheepishly. “I probably look like a fool don't I?”

“You look fine.” he replied simply, watching as she blinked and smiled in return, eyes lighting up with happiness and relief, though he wasn't sure of why on the latter. “You are just going to make yourself dizzy though.”

Soon enough she stopped spinning around, chuckling dizzily as she realized she made herself very dizzy, stumbling before the Batter snatched her by the back of her jacket, keeping her from falling on her face.

“Be careful.” He warned her, and she chuckled, a mix of relief and some nerves in her voice, as she stood straight and began to walk normally.

Soon enough, they made their way to the tram and stepped in, finding seats not too long after it started moving. A voice announced the next stops in order, and Alma was the last stop before heading back to Satchiata.

Deirdre groaned and rested her head back against the window, asking the Batter who sat across from her. “How long did it take you to get to the other places using this tram?”

“A couple hours for each trip. And I suspect this will be longer than before as a result.” The Batter answered, watching as she groaned and covered her face with her arm. “I take it your perception of the tram trips were different before you came here?”

“Yup.” Her voice was mildly muffled, but he could understand her just fine. “It seemed like it only took moments before.” She then sighed, putting her arms down and palms on the seats to either side of her, kicking out her legs and stretching them.

' _This was going to a long trip._ ' She thought with a sigh, eyes drifting around while trying to find something to do. She soon began to idly hum, head tilting back and forth with the beat in her head and her feet tapped along with it as her eyes slipped closed.

The Batter didn't say anything at first, he seemed preoccupied with checking their stores of Luck Tickets and Silver Meat in the bag Alpha often carried in its... pocket dimension? That was the only way to explain why he could put something in the center of the ring's hole, have it disappear and then pull it out again later.

However, the more she hummed, the more he found himself focusing on her humming which had turned into soft singing, he couldn't recognize the language but she clearly knew it or the song well enough to sing along.

“Solti ola i~ Amaliche cantia masa estia~! E sonti tolda i~ Emalita cantia mia distia~” She sang, moving back and forth with whatever rhythm was in her head as her feet tapped out a beat unknown to him.

“What song is that?” He eventually found himself asking, before when she was only a faceless voice in his head she had sang and hummed as well, but he didn't find it important enough to ask about, but now that they were going to be stuck in this tram car for a while he may as well ask.

She jolted and her mouth snapped shut, her head snapping down to look at him with embarrassed shock as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear quickly.

A nervous habit he now noted as she stammered out. “C-Credens justitiam, it's from an animated show I watch, was I being too loud?” She shrunk in her seat, even with her height and threaded her hands together in her lap. “Sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, your voice isn't hard on the ears unlike Dedan's.” He spoke, beginning to wonder why she was so apologetic for the smallest of things. And he wasn't lying either, compared to Dedan's rough and loud voice, the Elsen's whispery gasps, Zackarie's muffled voice due to his mask or the Judge's slightly gravelly voice due to being a cat, her voice was a welcome difference.

It was neither high nor low in pitch, wavering between the two, and while her voice was certainly loud at times, it sounded...More clean, more pure he supposed, it wasn't marred by years of breathing in smoke that damaged the lungs and vocal chords that would make it harder to understand due to gravely tones, it was as clear as a bell assuming she wasn't mumbling.

It seemed he stunned her, as she blinked several times and tried to speak. “I...um... I.....” She couldn't seem to find the words she was looking for, so she sighed, slight frustration in it before she smiled and said. “Thank you.”

He nods before going back to what he was doing before while she began to hum once more, the next stop came and went quickly as a result.

However, an hour into the ride to the next stop, Deirdre suddenly groaned and lept out of her seat as she stopped singing.

“Need to move around, I'm going to die if I have to sit for the next six hours.” She spoke as she began to pace back and forth in the tram car, alternating between swinging her arms back and forth or clasping her hands together behind her back as she paced, doing her best to keep her balance as the car rocked back and forth.

The Batter merely watched her pace, not having anything else to do and he wasn't fond of going over their supplies again, but as he realized they were on the way to Pentel, he tried to warn her. “You might want to grab one of the handles, we're coming up on-”

The car suddenly rocked to the side, sending his Player stumbling off her feet to the side with an exclamation of surprise, right into him and Alpha.

He wrapped his arms around her midsection as soon as she hit his chest, making sure she wasn't sent to the floor as Alpha flashed out of surprise.

“...on a bumpy part of the tramway.” He finished after a moment, shifting and putting her in the seat next to him. “You may want to remain seated until it passes.”

“Right.” She tried her best to keep her voice even, but a bit of her nervousness leaked through anyway. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” He replied simply, and soon an uncomfortable silence began. The only sounds that filled the silence was the sound of the tram rocking back and forth, and an occasional bump like the one that knocked her over.

Deirdre occupied herself by looking out the windows at the water-er, plastic that flowed beside the tram, seeing the light glitter off of it dully. It looked pretty she had to be honest, not what she was used to, but she definitely found it pretty.

Yet once again, she found herself thinking that she definitely seemed to be in the world of OFF, nothing looked like it was a game at all, and of course when her thoughts began to go down this route she knew she had to stop her train of thought and put it on some other topic or else she'd find herself in an unsure mood.

She hated her thoughts could go against herself like that and just completely shift her mood, it aggravated her to no end.

What else was there to think about though? She found her eyes wandering around, drifting over the handholds above, the groves in the ceiling and floor until they rested on Alpha and The Batter.

She noted his eyes were a deep reddish brown, definitely looking red in the right light, and he currently had his hands on the palm of his bat which was in front of him, the end on the ground as he leaned on the metal bat.

She averted her eyes, knowing her perchance for spacing out and not wanting to make anything more awkward even if he seemed unbothered by the silence.

She turned her gaze back to the windows, spotting what looked like things swimming just below the surface of the plastic, towards the tram as her breath caught in her throat.

“Batter-!” Her voice was strained out of shock and mild fear as her hand reached out and snagged his shoulder, shaking him out of whatever thoughts he was in as she pointed with her other hand. “We got incoming-!”

Something rammed into the tram before she could finish her sentence, stopping it, knocking it to the side and sending the two tumbling to the floor with Alpha flashing brightly in surprise while Deirdre's words broke into a startled wordless shout.

The Batter scrambled to his feet, one hand holding his bat while he snagged his Player by the arm, helping her to her feet roughly.

She rubbed at her arm when he let go, she was certain that his grip was going to leave a bruise, but didn't have any time to complain as one of the sets of doors were pried open and a long crocodile-like snout with sharp serrated teeth stuck it's head in, large white eyes searching for it's next meal.

“Holy-!” She started, but a battle menu popping up in her field of vision cut her off, and she felt like strings wrapped around her fingers and tightened slightly as she on instinct raised a hand towards the Spectre. She had no time to be shocked, she had to play her part.

The Batter's mind was racing, he had never dealt with or had Spectres attack him while on the tram before! His mind immediately went to protecting Deirdre, but despite what he wanted to do, he sprung into action, bat in hand as Alpha joined him at his side as they prepared to fight.

Deirdre's eyes quickly looked through the words before her, seeing the Batter's and Alpha's HP, CP, and status. To the side in two separate neat little boxes was their competence moves.

“Alright then.” Her voice was very quiet and deadly serious as she picked the competence Run With Courage with a blink, her hand at her side twitching as the strings were tugged slightly.

The Batter felt the strings around his body pull and found himself running at the spectre, arms pulled back to swing. He stopped just before it and swung with all his might, his bat flashing as he used the element associated with the competence.

He struck the spectre right on the head, seeing it howl as he was made to quickly skitter back out of reach of it's snapping jaws, Deirdre's left hand pulling back to just behind her head as she made him move.

Her right hand came up, clenching her fingers together in a fist as she made Alpha use Saturated Chain on the spectre, the ring full on ramming into the spectre while glowing brilliantly.

“Do you see any more spectres Batter?!” She called out while making him move to the side, enough to where he could peer out of the tram car's doorway.

“Yes! One more!” At his words she groaned and shifted her posture, they had to take care of this one quickly then before the other got the bright idea to open the other set of doors.

Her eyes flickered to the move Run With Grace, with a thought she picked it and the Batter was charging forward once more.

He swung in an upward arc, hitting the spectre upside the jaw and slamming it's mouth closed with an audible CRACK, bits of it's teeth chipping away. He retreated as Deirdre had Alpha use Saturated Chain once more.

The ring dove forward and struck the spectre who was quick to snap at the ring, catching it in it's jaws and wildly slamming it on the ground roughly and repeatedly.

She inhaled sharply as she saw Alpha's HP going down, and was quick to just have the Batter do a normal attack, having him rush forward and swing his bat down on the vile creature's skull. The force of his bat broke whatever skin the creature had, blood spattering all around as it let out a dying shriek before letting go of Alpha and with a kick from the Batter it slid out of the tram, dead.

“Time to repeat this song and dance it seems.” She remarked as another creature just like the one they just defeated slid into view.

Many bat swings and saturated chains later, the second spectre was dead like it's partner, and the Batter took great delight in kicking it out of the tram of his own accord as the battle menu flickered and disappeared from Deirdre's view.

The feeling of strings disappeared from her hands, and with a sigh, she suddenly found herself out of breath and let herself fall to her knees, a hand on her chest as she gasped for breath.

Upon hearing her gasping for air, the Batter spun around on his heel and rushed over to his Player. Kneeling down, he checked her for injuries of course, but found none that he could see at first glance.

“Sorry, that was.... Intense...” She managed to say, smiling up at him. “I'm not used to situations like that so I think my body went into overtime.” She then smiled a little. “And no, I wasn't hurt, you kept me safe.”

“Thanks to your tactics.” He replied simply, waiting patiently as she managed to calm her breathing before he began to help her to her feet.

The doors closed while they were talking and the tram began to move once more, and the two were going to let go of each other, as they had a grip on each other's arms still, but a rough bump sent the Player stumbling into the Batter's chest.

“They really need to fix the tracks.” She mumbled with annoyance as he caught her. “...And I need to have a better center of gravity so I don't get knocked over.”

The Batter chuckled, his Player certainly was something in person, and he was glad she decided to come to his world.

 

* * *

 

“Good God almighty, get me out of here!” She exclaimed as she rushed out of the tram, having squeezed between the opening doors before they were open fully.

She spun on her heel, arms behind her head as she backstepped while speaking as the Batter left the tram following her. “That was the longest six or more hours of my life!” The Batter had an amused smirk as he watched her rant, he always wondered what she looked like when she ranted about this or that. “Why, oh why was it made to where if you wanted to go to one place you had to wait to go to the other stops before you got to your stop? I mean NO ONE got on the entire time we were on it so why not make it like an elevator!?”

“I don't know Deirdre.” He chuckled, watching as she huffed at him before breathing in and calming herself down.

“At least we're finally in Alma.” She sighed, looking around the platform. “Well, let's get going.”

The Batter nodded as he joined her at her side as they entered the building, walking into a purple colored room with three posters on the wall and an Elsen standing in front of a door way.

Deirdre mumbled something with a groan, but the Batter didn't catch what she said as she walked right over to the Elsen after taking a good look at the posters. She spoke with him as the Batter trailed after her, taking a moment to look at the posters before walking over, and saw she was answering questions rapid fire.

“Roses.” She answered to a question the Batter hadn't heard.

“Notre-Dame first appeared on the...?” The Elsen asked.

“Sixth.”

“How many threes are there in June?”

“Twenty-two.”

“Cyrille, Kevin and?”

“Jonas.”

“...All your answers are correct.” The Elsen said, she sighed in relief and the Batter was surprised she answered them all correctly. “But... Uh... There is one more question.” He saw her fingers twitch and he briefly felt his grip on his bat tighten at that, though he wasn't sure if it was entirely her doing or his own annoyance showing. “If you turn the month March upside-down, what two-digit number can you read?”

She narrowed her eyes at the Elsen before glancing at the posters from where she stood, saying after a moment. “Eighty-seven.”

“That's... That's correct...” Deirdre sighed in relief upon the Elsen's words. “...correct...” His voice went up a few pitches and the Batter, as well as his Player, knew exactly what that meant.

The Batter darted forward, catching her shoulder with a hand as she was stepping back and grasping her shoulder somewhat tightly before practically throwing her behind him as the Elsen's head exploded with black ooze.

She restrained a cry of alarm and pain as she hit the ground hard, her left elbow hitting the ground first and pain shot up her arm, the battle menu flashing before her eyes and managed to get out on instinct. “Attack plan _auto_!”

With that, the strings wrapped around the Batter loosened, enough for him to act freely which he did so with a grin as Alpha joined him.

While he and Alpha fought the burnt Elsen, Deirdre took the time while he wasn't looking to slip her jacket off and examine the bruises she had. Her upper right arm had purple finger-like bruises from when he pulled her to her feet when the spectre attacked, she poked it and winced, it definitely was going to be there for a while.

While slipping her jacket on that arm she took a look at her left elbow which was still throbbing both on the elbow and up and down her forearm, a dark bruise was forming on her elbow as well.

Okay, nothing that warranted any concern in her book, she thought as she pulled her jacket back on as the Batter finished off the burnt with a thwack of his bat. She was beginning to realize he didn't know she wasn't as durable as he clearly was.

He turned back to her, spattered with black ooze all over his clothes and some on his face but he was alright as he asked. “You okay?”

“..Yeah, I'm fine of course.” She smiled and stood up, ignoring the pain in her arm as she walked over to him. She wasn't going to mention her bruises, she didn't want to be treated like a glass rose, and what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

“Good.” He smiled, plopping his free unstained hand onto her head, carefully ruffling her hair playfully before he let her lead the way into the next room.

“Here's hoping the healing block can clean you two up, cause I sure don't know if it can!” She chuckled as they walked into the next area.

A strong scent of iron assaulted the Player's nose, making her recoil slightly as she covered her nose and kept moving forward, eyes glancing at the meat pools all around. She was a big fan of meat, don't get her wrong, she absolutely loved her steak, but seeing pools of churning flesh and blood was enough to make her stomach churn in discomfort, didn't help the fact she didn't often deal or smell raw meat back home so she was far from accustomed to this.

She instead focused on the Elsen walking up to her and the Batter. The elsen stammered out. “You... You... uh...”

“We're here to see Dedan.” She spoke, shifting back slightly to be slightly behind the Batter, making him turn his head in confusion at her actions.

“Hhh... You're here at the meat fountains of Alma, the center of the first zone. Here, meat flows freely, continually filling these immense metal pools you see before you.” Though the Elsen's explaination made absolutely little sense to Deirdre, she followed it as best she could. “Our work consists of pouring this meat into bottles before the fountains overflow. The meat is then immediately delivered to all the other zones, from zone 1 on. As the first of four elements... It's an important element... Because without meat, people would have nothing to eat. They would die of starvation, one after another.”

“Ma... Master Dedan has an office in the center of the fountains... But... but nobody has ever found it. Generally... speaking...” The elsen shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Master Dedan seems to only appear when necessary... Well, uh... there. ... Who are you two, anyways?”

“I'm the Batter and she is my player.” The Batter's voice was firm as he spoke. “We've come to liberate the world of malignance.”

“Oh... Oh really? Uh...” The elsen seemed to consider something before asking a question that made her blood run cold. “well then... Can you liberate me?” His head exploded in a shower of black ooze, making the Player scramble backwards as the Batter and Alpha stepped forward, ready to fight.

“What is it with EVERY Elsen deciding to say screw it and go burnt and attack us after talking with us?!” She yelped as she felt the strings on her fingers tighten as she had the Batter and Alpha attack with their currently most powerful attacks.

The Batter didn't answer, focused on putting the former elsen out of his misery. Several bat swings and saturated chains later, the burnt was lying dead on the ground, much to her relief. She was seriously beginning to start running out of energy but pushed through it, ignoring it like she always did.

Walking up to the Batter and Alpha, she noticed two things up ahead, making her laugh as she briefly sprinted past the two, stopping a few paces from them with a smile as she turned her head to look at them. “Whatddya know-Zackarie and a healing block are right up ahead!”

The Batter blinked before grinning, quickly joining his Player at her side with Alpha at his heels. “Then let's get moving.”

Deirdre giggled before running along, the Batter quickly following her with Alpha right behind him. She skid to a stop before the small walkways to both the healing block and Zackarie's platforms and the rest of the larger walkways leading to the rest of the zone.

“You guys go get healed up, I'mma talk to Zackarie and see what we can afford.” She spoke after spinning on her heel to face her two companions.

The Batter nodded before pulling out the satchel he kept their credits in and tossed it to Deirdre, who caught it with ease, though she had to put a foot back to balance herself. It was mildly heavy, like a jug of milk, but she didn't mention it as she slung the strap over her shoulder, she could carry it just fine though she was wondering how the Batter could carry it like a bag of chips.

She made her way to Zackarie as the Batter and Alpha made their way to the healing block.

“Hello Deirdre!” Zackarie waved at her as she came over, and she could tell he was smiling or grinning behind his mask. “Nice to finally see you in person! In good shape?”

“Bonjour Zackarie!” She giggled, giving an over the top exaggerated bow, grinning herself when she heard him laugh behind his mask as she sprung back up into a standing position. “I'm no worse for wear if I say so myself. Yourself?”

“I'm fine, none of the spectres have the guts to bother a merchant like me.” His grin seemed to widen at her giggle, eyes crinkling behind his mask. “Perhaps you have some spare credits?”

“If you're selling, I'm buying.” She crossed her arms, tilting her head with a smile.

After browsing through what he had, she got seven more luck tickets and some sliver meat, the latter of which Zackarie put in a plastic bag for her to carry while she stuffed the tickets in her pockets after paying for them. She also bought the bat she couldn't get earlier before she came there, having gotten Alpha a weapon(?) upgrade instead.

As she reached for the bat Zackarie held out, she snagged the sleeve of his jacket with one hand while the other grabbed the bat.

“Hey, I have a question.” She murmured quietly, noting that the Batter and Alpha were preoccupied with talking it seemed, probably for attack plan auto, and didn't notice what was going on with her just yet. “Am I really here? In this world or is it like those other dive games I've played?”

There was a reason she wanted to speak to him alone and told the Batter and Alpha to go to the healing block without her.

He seemed to smile behind his mask as she let go of his sleeve. “Yes, you are truly here.” She felt a chill go down her back at that even as he continued. “Wearing a sort of mask like my own with those accessories.”

She blinked and touched one of her star hairclips, she didn't have much time to contemplate it however, she knew her time was running short so she quickly asked. “How do I get home?”

“Ask me again when you're at the final save block of this entire world in the final zone.” She still had the sense that he was still smiling behind his mask. “For now, you are stuck here, no worries, I'm sure the Batter will take care of you. Assuming he knows if you're hurt.”

She blinked, an uncomfortable feeling settling in her stomach as she turned to leave, but he grabbed her upper arm, where the bruise was. She winced visibly as he put pressure on the bruise with his grip while she turned her head to look back at him.

“Take care of her Batter. She's a tricky one.” Zackarie called out cheerfully as she turned her head to see the Batter walking up to the two as Zackarie let go of her.

He raised an eyebrow at that, noting that his Player rubbed at her arm where he saw Zackarie grab her, and gave the merchant a look which said merchant shrugged innocently at.

“You alright?” The Batter asked once he and his Player were walking away to the pathway to the left. “Zackarie didn't hurt you or say anything to frighten you did he?”

“No, he didn't. I'm fine.” She smiled, though she had the feeling it looked strained despite her efforts.

She wasn't okay, she knew that, but she'd didn't want to say anything. She didn't want to worry him, that was the last thing she wanted, he was relying on her to help him fight and she wasn't going to disappoint him by worrying him.

No, she had a job, a purpose to fulfill, and she wasn't going to needlessly worry her new friend with something that she didn't see as a concern.

Her behavior, however, was already concerning the Batter, he just wasn't sure what was wrong persey and didn't want to point anything out without proof there was something amiss.

Unfortunately, he'd get the proof he was looking for soon enough.

After she gave the Batter his new bat and dealing with the burnt blocking the pedalo caller, the two summoned a pedalo and, with great reluctance on Deirdre's part, got into the pedalo before going on their way through the meat.

She felt like she was going to be sick, the scent of iron almost overwhelming her, but she ignored it as the Batter pedaled the pedalo as she steered it.

She noted the numbers on the wall as they moved along, not having anything to write with so she'd have to trust her memory later as they continued on.

A thud against the hull of the small pedalo made both of them pause, and the Batter looked back at her, seeing her perturbed expression as he asked. “Did you just feel-?”

Before he could finish his sentence, two familiar white spectres burst up from the meat, sending it spattering everywhere, bearing sharp fangs and beady pure white eyes glimmering in delight at finding their next meal.

“Batter, PLEASE, don't tell me we have to fight these things.”

“Well...” The Batter was already standing up, bat in hand as Alpha shook from side to side, seemingly in delight. If it wasn't for the danger, the Player would have facepalmed.

“For the love of-!”

One of the spectres dove forward with a shriek, seemingly intent on avenging it's fallen brethren, and the Batter swung his bat, sending the pedalo lurching as a result as Deirdre yelped, grabbing onto the sides of the pedalo like her life depended on it.

“Auto, auto _goddamn it_ attack plan auto!” She yelped out, trying her best to not pitch over either side of the small boat. “I-There's no way I can think like this!”

The Batter didn't reply as he deflected another one from hitting either him or his player while the boat lurched, but he nodded in understanding anyway.

Something felt weird about all this though, and the player had a distinct feeling there was supposed to be three-

Sounds of something bursting up from the meat behind her sent her blood running cold and she turned her head, seeing yet another one of those spectres bearing it's fangs down at her behind her.

For the first time since she got here after composing herself, she let herself scream with terror, the sound leaving her vocal words with reckless abandon as she scrambled to move away, towards the Batter as the spectre lunged for her back.

The shriek nearly startled the Batter as he finished off one of the spectres, and he quickly turned in time to see the spectre grab her by her jacket, her right arm slipping out of it as she struggled to escape while it tried to pull her into the meat.

He was quick to step forward, towering over her crouched form as he saw red before swinging his bat with all his strength. The force of the bat cracked the creature's skull wide open, making it shriek before he swung yet again, ending it as it let go of her, sliding off into the meat.

“Are you oka-” His words died in his throat as he looked down at her, spotting the purple finger-like bruise on her upper right arm. From a glance, he could tell it was a few hours old.

She looked like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, eyes wide as she stared up at him, watching as he shook his head, spinning back around to swiftly wack the final spectre in the head, ending it.

“Let's get back to the healing block.” He said, voice surprisingly quiet and his player numbly turned them back around after quickly getting her jacket back on.

She felt awful about keeping her injuries from him, especially after seeing the look of horrified shock on his face. Her brain tried to justify it by saying she didn't want to worry him, but she shut up that part of her mind, knowing it was in the wrong.

When they docked, the Batter surprisingly picked her up, being extremely gentle as he hoisted her in his arms before stepping onto dry land. He carefully set her down, but before she could hardly move, he grabbed her jacket and pulled it off before she could register his movements enough to stop him.

He shakily checked her for any other injuries aside from the one he already knew about, only finding the recent bruise on her elbow as she remained silent, eyes downcast in guilt.

His mind was reeling, but it also made sense, and why the bruise on her side from earlier looked so awful. Of course, she wasn't as durable as him, she wasn't like him, wasn't from here to begin with-

“I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you.” Her voice was soft, laced with guilt and pain. “These aren't worth worrying about, and I don't want you to be so concerned with me possibly getting a tiny, unimportant scrap that you get hurt as a result.”

“Deirdre, these aren't unimportant 'scrapes', these are purple bruises which means they're far from unimportant!” He grabbed her by her shoulders, jacket in one hand, but  _she still wouldn't look up_. “In this world, fighting is commonplace and you need to be careful or you could get seriously injured or even killed!”

He felt sick to his stomach, as he knew that it wasn't the spectres doing for her bruises, but he himself because of his own careless actions.

“That may be true, but I'm not going to have you treat me like I'm a glass rose!” She looked up finally, eyes filled with pain. “I've only been here a day and I know I'm going to be here longer still, but I'm not going to tip toe around danger when we need to purify this world or be treated like a glass rose just because I got bruised! And I don't want you to be so scared of touching me when there's no need to be!”

A single tear fell down her face which she quickly wiped away, voice almost a whisper. “I don't want my only friend in this world to be so scared of touching me when there's no reason to be. I'm not so easily hurt despite what you are thinking. So please,” Her voice was pleading as she clenched her hands at her sides, looking down once more. “Don't treat me as any different than you have been.”

He was silent for several moments before pulling her into a hug. “As long as you promise to tell me when you get hurt, both physically and mentally, I think I can manage that.” he said softly. “I know how stubborn you can be, but you need to trust me and let me know when you get hurt. Don't be-”

“Stupid?” She supplied but he shook his head.

“No, bullheaded and not tell me.” There she went again, calling herself stupid when she wasn't like she did when she was having problems with the puzzles. He then added. “And please stop calling yourself stupid, you're far from it.”

She stilled in his arms, before sighing and nodding as she returned the hug hesitantly. “I feel I should let you know I'm not used to this, any of this.” She mumbled into his shoulder. “You telling me to stop calling myself names, telling me to let you know when I'm hurt in any way, I'm not used to any of this and it's a surprise you're doing any of this honestly.”

“It shouldn't be.” he spoke as they separated, noting how her shoulders sagged and her eyes drooped. “Are you tired? We have been running around and I seriously doubt the battles have been easy on you, auto plan or not.”

“I'm fi-” she caught herself, smiling apologetically as he nodded at her. “I **am** tired.” She amended with a smile. “Honestly before I came here or started guiding you today I was doing a lot of wrestling a two hundred pound doggo named Laela into behaving, so I was just a little exhausted when I decided to come here.”

“Then follow me.” He grabbed her shoulder carefully, earning him a look before he eased up and just grabbed it normally before leading her back to the building they entered to get to the meat pools.

The body of the burnt they fought was gone, much to Deirdre's confusion and the Batter spoke up. “After a certain amount of time, burnt dissolve into smoke when they die.”

“Ah, right.” She nodded, unsure but accepted the information as the Batter lead her over to one of the corners of the room.

“There's no place else we can rest, the tram is one but we could wake up at a different stop and have to wait to get back here.” He stated as he leaned against the wall, sliding down to sit as he set aside his Bat.

The Player snorted in amusement as she went over, sitting on the floor before sprawling out on the ground, an arm folded under her head as she laid on her side facing the Batter's legs, a wall to her back.

Upon seeing his bemused expression, she smirked and explained. “I can't sleep sitting up honestly, so even if this is really uncomfortable I have to deal with it. I've already dealt with a bed that is rock hard when it's not warm in the house, this shouldn't be different.”

“If you say so.” He shrugged, watching as she sighed before closing her eyes.

“Hey, Batter.” She mumbled loud enough to hear and the Batter hummed to let her know he heard her as she continued to speak. “If it isn't too much to ask... Can you please not wander off while I'm asleep?”

“Why would I wander off?” His question was full of confusion to which she shrugged at.

“Dunno, but... Please don't. I....” She hesitated before saying softly. “In this world, and even back home, I don't want to be alone, especially when I'm sleeping.”

He blinked before smiling softly. “Then I won't. You have nothing to worry about.”

“..Thank you.” She smiled slightly before falling silent, a comfortable silence enveloping the two.

He watched as her shoulders eventually relaxed, and her features relaxed as her breathing evened out as she fell asleep.

She shifted slightly in her sleep, silvery-white hair slipping to droop over her face, she had a serene look of contentment on her face, even as she shifted while asleep.

She shifted once more several minutes later, stretching her free arm out and resting it on the Batter's knee, nearly making him jump out of surprise. He thought for a moment she woke up, but she didn't make any movements that signaled she was awake so she was still asleep, for a few minutes he thought about moving her arm but decided against it, resting his head against the wall behind him as he felt fatigue creep up on him from the day's events.

Soon he let his eyes shut, knowing Alpha would wake them if any spectre showed up.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

 

_I heard muffled voices in my dreams, I was walking in some dark place, looking for the Batter in the darkness._

_It sounded like my mother calling for me, but her voice was muffled so I couldn't make out anything she said._

_I continued to walk, my eyes not seeing anything in this darkness as I continued on. The world or wherever I was felt like the ground beneath me was shifting and changing, preventing me from getting anywhere._

_Eventually, I stopped hearing my mother's voice, silence filling the void aside from my footsteps._

_The silence was driving me crazy, and my footsteps increased in speed before I was full on running, frantically looking around as I began to call out to the Batter, my voice filled with fright._

_It isn't long before I suddenly ram into someone who wraps their arms around me securely as I feel a feeling of calm and safety wash over me._

“ _It's alright my Player.” The Batter's voice murmured above me, soft and reassuring. “I'll keep you safe.”_

_I blinked before relaxing, my previously tense muscles relaxing as I felt the panic I was feeling before wash away and be replaced by the feeling of being completely safe from any harm._

 

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

 

The Player smiled softly in her sleep as the Batter, asleep himself, rested his hand on her wrist gently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, some of the issues I and my Player come into play! Not wanting to share our problems for fear of disappointing others, so we keep them to ourselves, even if its something that's worrying. Yes, I am like that and so is my player, but we're working on it X3
> 
> I am so so sorry this took so long to write! I had IRL issues as well as motivation problems, but I'll try to get the next update out as soon as possible, I pray it won't be as long as this, cuz the length wasn't intentional I swear but it at least fleshed out my interpretation of the Batter as well as the character for my Player Xp

**Author's Note:**

> [This is what Deirdre looks like after she shows up!](https://orig00.deviantart.net/26ae/f/2018/286/b/9/off_me_by_shadowrosa6_writes-dcpdmat.png)
> 
>  
> 
> Ahh, I'm really happy I got this done! Can't wait to see where this goes to be honest ^W^
> 
> Please let me know what you think so far, as I love hearing people's feedback and opinions! Let me know if you have any questions as well, I'll answer them the best I can without spoiling anything! ^^


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